


What's In a Name?

by Rose235b



Series: The Polish adventures of Derek Hale [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Stiles, Derek is a Good Alpha, Happy Derek Hale, M/M, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Polish Mythology, Polish Stiles Stilinski, Polish Stilinskis, Post Season 2, Stiles Stilinski Speaks Polish, Stiles Stilinski's Name
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-30 21:06:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6440704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose235b/pseuds/Rose235b
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek finds a Polish baby names book and decides that his new goal in life is finding out Stiles' real name through trial and error.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What's In a Name?

**Author's Note:**

> It's 2 am and I should be doing everything except for writing fanfics but oh well. My first time writing both Stiles and Derek, so I'm sorry if I screw up at times. Also, Ruskie pierogi is the best kind of pierogi, believe me. All of the names are authentic and so are the meanings behind them and I actually have that book.

Derek wasn’t supposed to be snooping around Stiles’ house, but then again, Stiles was supposed to be doing his actual homework instead of researching Slavic mythology.

After Jackson got better his parents sent him off to London and Lydia cut herself off from anything supernatural. The Argents disappeared and so did Peter, but Derek was sure the latter would appear sooner rather than later. Young men started to disappear around the nearby lake. None of them rushed to look into it until a victim’s girlfriend stated that he walked into the lake by himself, completely out of it. Hypnotized.

Stiles immediately goes into research-mode, calling Derek and Scott after three hours and giving each of them a stack of articles about similar cases all over the world, all of them describing hypnotized men walking into a lake.

“We need to find a link.”

Stiles has his own stack of articles and all three of them go through at least a hundred of them before Scott finds something.

“They mention a girl’s suicide” He shows the papers to the two.

_‘…three years prior a fifteen-year-old rape victim took her life by drowning in that same lake…’_

Stiles runs to his computer and in a matter of seconds finds out that back in December, a girl drowned in their lake. He starts to dig into the previous case and finds the girl’s picture, pulling it up next to the Beacon County victim.

The resemblance is in the hair. The color is unnaturally red and that is what Stiles latches onto. In seconds he has a Wikipedia page pulled up, and as Derek reads through it he feels the unmistakable desire to laugh in Stiles’ face, because _no way_.

No way was there a chance that they were dealing with a Slavic version of a _mermaid_.

“ _Rusałka_ ” Stiles corrects him immediately. “There’s a big difference, cause we already have mermaids.”

“ _You_?” Derek raises an eyebrow, a million questions jumping through his mind, the most prominent one being _Since when can Stiles read Polish?_

“Stiles’ entire family is Polish” Scott explains, yawning. “That’s why no one can pronounce his name right.”

“No, no one can pronounce my name correctly because my parents thought they were funny.”

Stiles goes back to his research and Scott collapses on his bed, whining to Derek about leftovers in Stiles’ fridge. Derek’s too tired to fight with him and simply goes downstairs to get them, feeling quite hungry himself. The first thing he notices when he comes down the stairs is the one book in a foreign language standing on the Stilinski’s bookshelf. Derek decides to ignore it for now and walks into the kitchen, prepared to find some Chinese or maybe a container of fries. And sure enough, he finds a container full of weirdly shaped dumplings he takes upstairs.

“Dude, you made _pierogi_!” Scott jumps off the bed in no time, suddenly full of energy. “And the potato and cheese ones? I love you, man.”

“Scott, repeat after me, _ruskie_ ” Stiles sighs, reaching his hand over his shoulder. Scott hands him two dumplings before stuffing three into his face.

“Potato and cheese?” Although they smelled okay, Derek wasn’t sure if he was up for that.

“Cottage cheese. And onion.”

“They’re amazing, Derek” Scott takes another handful. “I’m going downstairs to get some sour cream for these. Don’t try any without them, your first _pierogi_ experience needs to be thorough.”

Derek stares at the container in his hands, rethinking all of the life choices that lead him to this moment before turning to Stiles.

Somehow after knowing the kid for so long he still knows nothing about him at all. Next thing he knows he’ll find out that the Sheriff’s name wasn’t John.

“What _is_ your name?”

“There’s no way in hell that I’m even showing you the first _letter_.”

After Scott came back and instructed Derek to dip his _pierogi_ in the cream before eating – and _okay_ , he may have been right, they were _incredible_ – and Stiles practically fell asleep on the keyboard, they decide to call it a night. Derek is explicitly told to use the front door and after a healthy amount of glaring at Stiles, he complies, slowly making his way out of the house.

The book catches his eye once again and maybe it’s the exhaustion clouding his better judgment but he walks over to the bookshelf and takes it into his hands, opening it.

It’s pretty old, the year printed at the bottom of the first-page being 1975, with its pages yellow with their years. There’s a ton of colorful page markers and after looking at a few he concludes that it’s a baby name book. The markers themselves are worn out with age and there’s a thick layer of dust on the top and only then does Derek realize that this is what Stiles’ parents used to pick his name.

When he goes back to his apartment Derek puts the book down on his bedside table and falls onto his bed, already asleep before his head hits the pillow.

* * *

  _The one who praises God_

* * *

 When Derek wakes up, it’s nine am and he’s got three texts from Stiles all saying that they have to meet up after school. His eyes travel to the book on his nightstand and he opens it on a random page, his eyes widening at the mass of random letters highlighted on the page.

He carefully rewrites the name into google translator and chooses Polish, listening carefully to the female voice’s pronunciation and repeats after it until he’s satisfied.

He’s waiting for the pack’s classes to end and surprisingly Stiles is the first one out of the school. He gives Derek a piece of paper with seemingly random plants and tells him to use his credit card and get them asap.

“I found some herb magic that might work” Stiles rubs a hand over his face, looking even more exhausted than the day before. “ _Burnette Saxifrage_ is basically to protect us all from dying, so you know, it’s not a priority. _White Bryony_ is a total must though, as is _Belladonna_.”

“ _Boguchwał_?” Derek asks because he’s not an idiot – he got a list of things to buy, he’ll buy them. Besides, none of the plants are extremely exotic so he’ll probably have no problem with obtaining them.

Stiles freezes for a second, blinks a couple of times and then bursts into maniacal laughter.

_The kid definitely needs some sleep._

“Nice try, but no. Now, get your werewolf ass out of here and buy those” Derek glares at him, but there’s not much heat behind it. “Geez, sorry, get your lycanthropic butt out of here and purchase them _please_.”

* * *

  _The one who wields fame_

* * *

 When he comes home the first thing Derek does is find a new name to try out.

He’s not sure why, but it’s become a challenge now and there’s no way he’s giving up. He chooses one just as ridiculous looking and repeats the process, all the while ordering Belladonna and White Bryony seeds on Amazon. He drives to the nearest ecological pharmacy and buys Burnette Saxifrage, saying the name to himself on his ride back. He calls up Stiles, telling him about the estimated time they have until the packages arrive.

“Okay” Stiles sighs since that seems to be his new thing now. “I have a temporary solution. We need to plant Linden trees all over the place.”

As Derek finds out Stiles only means about five trees in strategic places frequently visited by outsiders.

“We’ll still need the rest” Stiles’ voice is soothing in a way, despite the ever-present exhaustion. “But Linden may work for a time being.”

“ _Dzierżysław_.”

“No. Also, I know you stole our book. Once you’re done playing with it, please give it back, _capisce_?”

* * *

  _T_ _he one who rouses respect_

* * *

 Derek meets up with the rest of the pack the next day, the backseat of his Toyota filled with Linden tree seedlings. Erica, Boyd and Scott pile up into Stiles’ jeep while Isaac sits in the passenger seat of his car. They drive up to the lake and everyone’s handed two Lindens – Derek knows Stiles said they needed around five, but there’s never too much protection against the supernatural, so double the amount should be enough.

“Hey, I want to do the thing too!” Stiles pouts, gesturing towards the empty backseat and his equally empty hands.

“We didn’t bring any shovels, Stiles” Scott shrugs, nudging him with his shoulder. “Besides, you need to show us where to plant those.”

Stiles sends them off around the lake and Derek ends up being the one planting the trees near their cars.

“Why Linden?” He never questions Stiles’ choices, because he can’t afford to. Stiles somehow just knows these things, knows how to pick out truth among the fiction, sees things where others see none. They’ve established a working dynamic by now, and though it’s not built on trust in each other it’s built on trust in their abilities.

“Protection against evil spirits according to Polish folklore” Stiles sits on the hood of his jeep, swinging his legs back and forth. “I called up my grandma and told her I needed some info for a school project and she basically told me enough to write a book on Polish folk magic.”

Derek nods his head, planting the last tree. He stands up and dusts off his jeans, before turning back to Stiles.

“ _Budzisław_.”

Stiles lets out a full-on belly laugh.

* * *

_The one who tells intelligent jokes_

* * *

The next time Derek sees Stiles is a week later during a pack-night. Isaac chooses the movie, Erica and Boyd make popcorn and Scott arrives with pizza and his reluctant best friend. Stiles has never been to one and Derek never asked why, since they weren’t really friends. When Scott finally agreed to being Derek’s Beta he was sure Stiles was at least partially against it.

But he’s finally in Derek’s loft and he looks about as comfortable as always around him.

Issac chooses a comedy that’s almost ten years old, tells them that it stars Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans as if that makes it better and steals one of the popcorn bowls from Boyd.

It seems like Derek’s the only one who’s not sold on the movie and in the end even Boyd thinks it’s not extremely horrible. Scott insists that it’s just a feel-good movie but Derek still doesn’t like it.

“Should have put in The _Return of Sourwolf_ ” Stiles mutters under his nose, seemingly forgetting that the room is full of werewolves who hear every beat of his heart.

Erica snorts into her popcorn and Isaac raises an eyebrow. Derek glares at Stiles who suddenly realizes who he’s sitting with and blushes.

When Scott and Stiles get up to leave two hours later Derek follows them, intending to lock the doors behind them.

“ _Przemysł_ ” He says when Stiles takes the last piece of pepperoni and stuffs it into his mouth.

“Not even close.”

* * *

  _The one who wants fame_

* * *

 The seeds arrive in the mail earlier than expected but Derek isn’t one to complain about it. He takes the box and drives to the Stilinski house, climbing to Stiles’ window.

“Shit” The boy falls off his chair, landing face first on the carpet. “Can’t you fucking walk in through the front door like a normal person?”

Derek ignores the comment, dropping the box on Stiles’ bed.

“ _Żelisław_.”

“I swear to God, one of these days I’ll just kill you.”

The threat is empty at best and Derek’s already out of Stiles’ room when the boy gets up.

* * *

  _The one who loves peace_

* * *

 They’re all pretty busy people, and Derek doesn’t have the time to torment Stiles between rebuilding the Hale house and keeping tabs on his pack. Erica and Boyd start to date and that makes Isaac suddenly scared that they’ll move out – after dating for _three days_ – and leave him behind and Derek has to take care of that mess. He calls up Scott, knowing that Isaac will need as much attention as he can get, but Scott arrives with Stiles in tow and that makes things awkward when the whole pack is wrapped around Isaac in a werewolf sandwich.

Stiles clearly doesn’t understand why exactly Derek needs to stuff his nose in Isaac’s hair or why Scott’s face is pressed against the boy’s neck, but at least he doesn’t comment on it. After a while – and Stiles paging through all ten albums on art deco architecture Derek has – Derek untangles himself from the sea of limbs and takes Stiles aside to his room.

“It’s a wolf thing” He explains. “Physical contact, scenting. They give a lot of comfort to pups.”

“Isaac isn’t a baby.”

“He kind of is” Derek’s very thankful for the fact that he soundproofed his bedroom himself. “He’s… Delicate.”

“Okay, got it.”

Stiles doesn’t ask any questions and just waits for Scott to also untangle himself from the mass of werewolves. They’re at the door the second he manages to.

“ _Lubomierz_.”

“Nope.”

* * *

  _The giver of fortune_

* * *

 Deaton never gave Stiles any clues about what he might be but Derek suspects that he’s still mostly human. He smells like a typical human and even lacks some of humans’ lackluster grace. Besides, there’s not much evidence backing up Stiles being anything other than one.

That is until Stiles calls them up one morning in a state of total panic. When the pack arrives Erica bursts into laughter, leaning her whole body into Boyd’s.

“Why is there fern growing all over your room?” Scott comes up to one of the plants, cocking his head. “Ferns have flowers?”

“They don’t” Derek furrows his brows, crouching next to one of them and delicately brushing his fingers over the golden, slightly glowing flower. It immediately disappears, leaving behind the fern.

The living, actual fern growing from between Stiles’ floorboards.

“This is freaky” Isaac shivers at the sight, stepping closer to the door.

“Sniff around, use your werewolf powers, whatever, just tell me, _who the fuck did that_?” Stiles’ eyes were focused on the plant closest to him, its flowers lighting up his calves with a golden hue. “And why would they do something like this?”

They all spent the next ten minutes looking for anything, a simple clue on what could be going on but there’s nothing. The room smells like Stiles as if it was thoroughly cleaned of any other scent at all.

“A magic-user” Derek sighs, wiping a hand across his face. “They cleaned up after themselves, there’s nothing to latch onto.”

“ _Great_ ” Stiles kicks one of the ferns, groaning when it folds in on itself and shrinks. “Good thing to know that some weirdo with a fucking rabbit on his head filled my room with fern flowers” Stiles freezes, before running to his nightstand and picking up a stack of papers. He tosses some of them away and Derek can clearly see that it’s a printed out e-mail.

“What’s going on?” Erica leans over to Derek, raising an eyebrow.

Derek shrugs, picking up the papers and huffing when he sees that they’re in Polish.

“Got it!” Stiles gives the rest of the papers to Scott, who just numbly takes them. “Fern flowers, according to Slavic mythology, are supposed to give money, love and knowledge to those who find them. There’s a whole holiday dedicated to finding them” He looks pretty proud of himself and sits down on his bed.

“Why would someone make a flower that gives money, love, and knowledge grow in _your room_?” Boyd crosses his arms over his chest and Stiles’ smug smile drops.

Stiles suddenly sits stiffer, his eyes focusing on one of the flowers. His hands grip the sheets so tightly his knuckles turn white.

Scott takes one look at him before ushering the rest of the pack out of the room.

“ _Dadźbóg_ ” Derek manages to say before he walks out, but Stiles doesn’t even lift his head.

* * *

  _The clever one_

* * *

 Derek told Stiles that as soon as the plants are ready he should call him and he’s quite surprised when Stiles does a little over a week after that morning.

The plants must be incredibly small, but Stiles says they’ll be enough. Derek doesn’t question him about that, deciding on something else instead.

“I heard you were talking to Deaton” Derek lies, because saying that he kept tabs on – _It’s called stalking, Derek_ said Erica when she found out – Stiles after the fern incident would only freak the boy out. “Did you find out who did that?”

“Yeah” Stiles’ voice drops immediately and Derek could swear that he heard his heartbeat through the phone.

Derek stays silent, waiting for him to elaborate and it might be the first time Stiles’ keeps quiet on his own accord. It freaks Derek out a bit, so he asks him to say more.

“Deaton says it could be me” And that’s the only thing Stiles says about it. He starts to babble about what he’s supposed to do with the herbs and ten minutes later says he has to go.

“ _Remigiusz._ ”

“No” Stiles clears his throat. “But thanks. For trying.”

Stiles hangs up before Derek has a chance to say anything else.

* * *

  _The_ _one who will avenge warriors_

* * *

 They meet up in the evening, before riding down to the lake. Stiles takes a deep breath and walks by the Lindens, before spreading the herbs around himself in a circle. It’s an early quiet night and the pack was advised to stay behind the tree, to pass it only when it was absolutely necessary. Derek can clearly hear Stiles’ heart beating a mile a minute and doesn’t dare to breathe when Stiles says a couple of words in Polish.

A desperate, deafening scream cuts through the air and the temperature drops from eighty to fifty degrees momentarily. A woman lunges from the lake towards Stiles and before he knows what’s happening Derek’s in front of the boy, growling. The woman claws at him, trying to drag him towards the water but Stiles grabs Derek’s shoulder and throws something in the air, wincing when the woman scratches his arm. It seems to work, the woman dropping onto the grass, motionless.

They’re both breathing heavily and Derek lets his claws retract and fangs shrink, blinking.

Scott gets to them a second later, pulling Stiles towards him and checking him over for damage, frowning at the cuts. Erica and Isaac cheer and Derek just stares at the body in front of him. The air around them changes, the temperature going back up and a light breeze appearing. The woman seems to disappear with the wind, her body vanishing, leaving behind a lock of red hair and a strong smell of sulfur.

“Creepy” Scott kicks it around before looking up at Derek. A cat runs towards the lock of hair and picks it up in his mouth, before disappearing. “Gross. I’m hungry.”

They drive to Derek’s loft and the Betas raid his fridge while Derek sits on the couch, staring straight ahead.

“That was incredibly stupid” Stiles sits next to him, stretching out his legs and groaning when his joints crack. “Everything was going according to plan. Why would you do that?”

The truth is Derek has no idea. The only thing he thought about at that moment was protecting Stiles at all cost and he wasn’t even sure why he’d _think_ that.

“I’m sorry” He says, because Stiles had to save his ass out there, perfectly human Stiles with no werewolf healing or senses to back him up. Because Stiles had everything under control until Derek ran head first into trouble. He looked down at Stiles’ forearm, wincing at the smell of fresh blood filling up the air.

“Just don’t do that anymore, alright” Stiles sighs, wiping his arm on his already bloodied T-shirt. “I got this.”

Derek stands up and walks to his bathroom, feeling Stiles’ eyes follow him on the way there. Derek finds the first aid kit they kept for emergencies and walks back. He tugs Stiles’ hand into his lap and looks at him.

“It’s gonna sting.”

“What?”

He pours a plentiful amount of hydrogen peroxide on Stiles’ forearm, the boy letting out a quick scream at the sudden hit of pain. Derek isn’t sure how much he was supposed to use but the more the better and who knows what the woman had behind her nails, she was dead after all. After Derek’s sniffs the wound and notes that it smells a bit better, he bandages it up clumsily. When he’s done, Stiles lifts up his arm and shakes it a bit, staring at the white bandage.

“Thanks.”

“ _Mściwój_ ” Derek looks into Stiles’ eyes, hoping that it was enough to get him back to being annoying and quirky instead of serious and scolding.

“You’re only getting worse at this game” Stiles chuckles before getting up and walking to the kitchen to join the hungry wolves inside.

* * *

  _The one who pursues peace_

* * *

 Derek walks Stiles back to his car that night.

“You said you grew the ferns” Stiles looks up from his shoes immediately, his eyes widening before he nods. “How do you know?”

“I dreamt of it” Stiles kicks a small rock aside, his shoulders slumping. “Of making them grow, I read about the Kupała Night that evening - it was the night I told you guys about, the one when they look for the flowers. The date checked out too and you said it yourself, there wasn’t even a different smell than usual” He stops next to the door of his jeep, turning around so he can look at Derek. “I talked to Deaton. There’s no way to mask the smell of magic – it lingers, unique to every magic user there is and he said that since the only smell there was mine, then-”

“Then it must have been you” Derek finishes for him, his head swimming. He sniffed the air but still, Stiles smelt pretty human to him.

“There should be a hint of sulfur” Stiles shrugs and as soon as he says it, Derek notices it – barely there, making Stiles easily passable for a full-on human. “My mother’s family could have been _Wiedźmami_ , cause it sure as hell doesn’t come from my dad.”

“So that’s what you are?” Derek tries to say the word himself, but it’s hard when he’s only heard it once.

“ _Wiedźma_. But no, not really. And this is the ironic part, so listen up” Stiles sighs, but the corners of his lips pull up. “ _Wiedźmy_ were women who knew stuff about herbalism, medicine and wildlife. They usually didn’t know shit about magic, but when they did, they were called _Cioty_. Which lost its meaning over time and now is a derogatory term for a gay man” Stiles looks half-amused half-horrified. “So basically, I’m a _ciota_. But also, since you know, the whole bi thing, when I get called a _ciota_ , it’s offensive. Literally, my own gene pool is offending me.”

Derek decides to just think of Stiles as _Stiles_ since it’s far less complicated.

Stiles gets into his car and starts it up before Derek says another name.

“ _Radzimierz_.”

“Still wrong.”

* * *

  _The one who pursues fame_

* * *

 They have another pack-night, only this time they’re at a diner and Stiles insists that he’ll at least pay for his own drink. Derek lets him and as soon as Stiles takes out his wallet and opens it, his eyes focus on something.

Stiles’ student ID card. With _M. Stilinski_ written on it.

When he gets back home Derek checks the book and there’s only one name that starts with an M that he hasn’t tried. He calls Stiles, and as soon as he picks up, spits it out.

“ _Mieczysław._ ”

“Nope.”

“Huh?” Because _what_? Does that mean that Stiles’ name is something completely different that isn’t even in this book? That all of this time, Derek’s been doing this for _nothing_?

“That’s a false lead” Derek can hear the scratching of a pen on paper and _oh_ , Stiles’ doing his homework. “My name was too long for the online student database of my Middle School and they asked my dad about an alternative, so he gave them my middle name” Stiles chuckles. “Which is a completely different story.”

Derek hangs up after Stiles talks his ear off about what his grandmother believes middle names signified, but for some reason he goes to sleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

  _The one with a fiery heart_

* * *

 They have to deal with another creature straight out of Slavic mythology and Stiles insists that their lives turned into a weird story arc on _Supernatural_. Derek rolls his eyes when Stiles starts to cast them all. He insists that he’s Sam and glares at Erica when she says that Derek could be Madison. Derek sends a questioning look towards Stiles who tells him that she’s a werewolf secretary. Derek growls at Erica, who just laughs.

The creature, _Bieda_ as Stiles calls it, kidnapped and sucked vital forces out of people. They got rid of her quickly and without any need for weird plants and incantations, but as her body disappeared just like the one of the _Rusałka_ , a black cat ran towards the lock of her hair and picked it up. It’s gone a second later and Stiles runs after it, cursing.

“I was right” He walks back towards them. “I think we’re dealing with a witch.”

“What?”

“Sniff around” Stiles kicks at the grass beneath his feet, before wincing as he accidentally hits his toe on a huge rock. “I bet you ten bucks it smells like sulfur.”

It does and Stiles links it and the black cat to a witch.

“ _Baba Jaga_ , to be exact” Stiles rolls his shoulders, groaning. “Probably lives in a house standing on a chicken leg in the middle of the woods. Man, I’m tired, let’s get home.”

“ _Żegota_ ” Derek yells as they get into their cars.

“Try harder!” Stiles winks at him before getting into his jeep.

* * *

  _The lucky one_

* * *

 Stiles throws himself into research and the pack goes on longer patrols, methodically combing through the forest surrounding Beacon Hills. Boyd stumbles upon a weird change in smell while running through the woods, saying that it reeked of sulfur. They all gather in Derek’s loft in the morning, sipping coffee and talking about their strategy.

Isaac runs in late but with a box of donuts in his hand, all of them looking exactly the same.

“One’s chocolate, the rest is jelly” He puts the box down, adjusting his ridiculous scarf.

Immediately the whole pack is fighting over the one chocolate donut. Stiles tells them that since his senses are inferior, he should get a chance at getting it before they rip each other apart. Boyd and Erica growl, but Scott takes pity on him and agrees. Stiles walks over to the box and opens it, staring down every single donut in it before choosing one. He bites into it and groans.

He got jelly.

Finally Erica gets the chocolate one and they settle back down, Derek rolling his eyes at Stiles’ pout.

“ _Szczęsny_ ” He says when Stiles announces that he needs to get home to get ready.

He laughs, waving Derek off and shutting the door closed behind himself.

* * *

  _The one whose anger at his enemies is mighty_  

* * *

 They find the witch exactly where they thought they would, the house on the chicken leg and all and before they register anything out of the ordinary until they’re attacked by a swarm of ravens.

Stiles waves his bat around and manages to hit most of the ones flying at him and Derek claws his way through the birds before he’s back to back with him, making sure that none of them attack Stiles. The pack is managing fine and the birds eventually fly away from them and collide with each other, slowly taking the form of a small, elderly woman. She’s hunched over and even if she were to stretch out, Derek’s sure she would be five feet tall tops. Her eyes jump from one to the other and for a splitting second Derek feels something cold deep in his chest, before they settle on Boyd and narrow. Boyd yells, collapsing to his knees and Erica’s by his side the very next second.

Derek lunges forward but with a flick of the woman’s wrist, he’s tossed aside, landing deep in the woods and away from the fight.

_The pack. Stiles._

He follows the smell of his Betas and runs at full speed, knowing he’d never forgive himself if something happened to any of them. Once he gets to the clearing he sees Boyd is laying down in the same spot where he collapsed and that Erica is now laying three feet from him. Isaac and Scott are battling with black cougars and Stiles is beating snakes to death with his bat. The woman looks at Derek smugly, flicking her wrist but nothing happens and Derek runs toward Stiles, both of them quickly taking care of the snakes and immediately after that Derek runs over to Scott and Isaac, jumping onto one of the cougars and slicing it in two but not before it takes a good swing at his left thigh. Derek growls as he feels his skin rip apart at the spot and the smell of his own blood mixes with that of the cougar’s. The other one disappears but so does Isaac’s strength as he collapses on to the forest floor. Scott checks him over before they both turn to the witch, ready to strike. She grins and once again Derek feels that cold pinching in his chest and before he knows it the witch says one word, the same word he’s been memorizing the past day.

“ _Gniewomierz_.”

Stiles’ face splits into a grin and he runs over to the witch before Derek can stop him. Stiles throws his hand forward, yelling something before he swings, his bat colliding with the side of the woman’s head. She screeches and then she’s gone and so is the house. Boyd, Erica and Isaac regain consciousness and Derek starts to walk towards them to check if they’re fine when he feels like he can’t walk anymore and falls down face first onto the ground. Scott is right next to him in a second and his face is full of shock as he tears apart Derek’s jeans and the wound inflicted by the cougar isn’t even beginning to close up. He puts his hands on Derek’s thigh and squeezes, his heart rate quickening. The whole pack is suddenly around him and Stiles tells them to put him in the backseat of the Jeep. They lift Derek up while he wordlessly protests. He’s fine, there’s nothing to worry, he has to check them over.

“Why didn’t her spell work” Derek seems to regain his ability to speak, laying down in the backseat of Stiles’ car. Scott’s sitting in the passenger seat, reaching over to put pressure on Derek’s thigh, cursing. There’s darkness creeping into Derek’s vision and his hearing isn’t working as it should be, as if he’s stuck underwater.

Stiles makes a sharp turn that makes Derek’s head collide with the door and _wow_ it doesn’t help his situation at all.

“I’m sorry” Stiles is panicking and Derek doesn’t like it at all. He frowns, his eyelids getting heavier with each passing second. “If you close your eyes I’ll beat you up with my bat, Hale!”

“Okay” Derek wills himself to focus on the streetlights they’re passing casting light on Scott’s concerned face. He didn’t want his Beta to worry. Pups shouldn’t be distressed. “S’ why?”

“My name” Stiles seems relieved all of a sudden and a second later they stop moving. “She didn’t know my name.”

Stiles gets out of the car runs somewhere and Derek whines, not being able to smell him or hear his heartbeat anymore. Scott crawls into the backseat and grips his thigh even tighter.

“Derek, don’t die” His voice breaks and Derek wants to do something to make his pup feel better, but there’s numbness crawling into his limbs and he feels heavier than he did an hour ago.

The door above his head opens and there are hands gripping his body and pulling him out and his nose is hit with the scent of _pack_ and more distress and it simultaneously makes him feel better and worse. Scott follows him out, his hand never leaving his wound.

“ _Jeśli teraz umrzesz, nigdy ci tego nie wybaczę_ ” Derek doesn’t understand a word, but Stiles keeps on talking. “ _Nie mieliśmy jeszcze nawet naszej szansy, Derek._ ”

He’s being wheeled in somewhere and he winces as sharp light assaults his eyes. He wants to close them but he promised Stiles, he couldn’t let _Stiles_ down. He let so many people down, his whole family, his new pack, Jackson, _Paige_ , there was an ever-growing list and Stiles deserved better than to be the next person on it.

The pressure on his leg disappears for a second before it’s back, and then there’s pain, so much pain, more than when he got hit and he growls pathetically, his whole body too weak to move away from the source. And then it’s gone but the pressure stays and Derek hears Stiles tell him that it’s alright, that he’ll be fine and Derek closes his eyes.

* * *

  _Peacekeeper_

* * *

 Derek opens his eyes to a bright light and the smell of animals. His eyes take in the room and he sees that he’s in the clinic. Slowly he sits up, wary of the pulsating pain in the back of his head.

As soon as he’s leaning back on his elbows the doors to the room open and Stiles rushes in, pushing him down onto the table.

“Wow, wow, slow down, big guy” He looks tired like he didn’t get to sleep for the last week.

“The… Pack” Derek groans out, his voice scratchier than usual.

“Everyone’s okay” Stiles passes him a glass of water and Derek drinks it in two gulps. “I sent them off to your loft around three so they could get some sleep.”

As soon as the fear for his pack settles down, Derek tries to piece the last night together.

“What happened?”

“Her spell casting was based on names. She knew yours and used your memories to get everyone else’s” Stiles sits down on the other table, swinging his legs back and forth. “She disabled your healing. Deaton says it should come back within the next few days” He looks down at Derek’s thigh before looking straight into his eyes. “You saved us all.”

“What?” Because that sounds ridiculous, Stiles was the one to strike her down and Derek wasn’t even able to stop her from knocking three out of four of his pu- _er, Betas_ out. Derek wasn’t even there for half the fight, running through the woods just to get there.

“You trying to find out my name” Stiles smiles brightly at him and Derek feels even more lightheaded than he did the night before. “Mistakes are deadly when you’re dealing with magic. They can turn your spells on you and that’s exactly what happened. You had a name for me, one which was _completely wrong_ and that cost her her defense” Stiles stands up just to sit on the table Derek’s on, his hip brushing against Derek’s. “Thanks to your stupid curiosity I was able to strike her down.”

“It’s not stupid curiosity” Because maybe at the beginning it was, but now Derek _needs_ to know Stiles’ real name, just so he can lock it up in his heart and never share with the world. Because the place in Derek’s mind labeled as Stiles is so empty it hurts and Derek wants to know _so much more_. “I just want to be able to say it back to you.”

Stiles’ heart starts to beat faster and he’s leaning down and the only thing that Derek can think of is that no one would expect for that to happen six months ago and then Stiles’ lips are on his and even that thought disappears. His senses pick up Stiles’ scent and heart rate and that breathless moan he lets out when Derek’s tongue slips past his lips.

They pull apart much too soon for Derek’s liking but as he tries to chase Stiles’ lips and sit up he feels pain rip through his leg and settles back on the table, wincing.

“ _Strzeżymierz_.”

“Excuse me?”

“That’s my name” Stiles brushes Derek’s hair back and that’s one of the best feelings in the world, the pads of his fingers lingering on Derek’s scalp. “ _Mirek_ for short.”

Stiles spells it out and Derek spends the next ten minutes learning both of the names and he memorizes the smile on Stiles’ face when he finally gets the longer one right. It’s open and full of warmth and Derek lifts his hands until they’re on Stiles’ back and pushes down. They kiss once again and Derek smiles into it, tracing the letters into Stiles’ skin.

**Author's Note:**

> Jeśli teraz umrzesz, nigdy ci tego nie wybaczę - If you die right now, I'll never forgive you  
> Nie mieliśmy jeszcze nawet naszej szansy, Derek - We didn't even get to have our chance yet
> 
> Boguchwał - The one who praises God  
> Dzierżysław - The one who wields fame  
> Budzisław - The one who rouses respect  
> Przemysł - The one who tells intelligent jokes  
> Żelisław - The one who wants fame  
> Lubomierz - The one who loves peace  
> Dadźbóg - The giver of fortune  
> Remigiusz - The clever one  
> Mściwój - The one who will avenge warriors  
> Radzimierz - The one who pursues peace  
> Mieczysław - The one who pursues fame  
> Żegota - The one with a fiery heart  
> Szczęsny - The lucky one  
> Gniewomierz - The one whose anger at his enemies is mighty  
> Strzeżymierz - Peacekeeper


End file.
